Ask CPA Trendlines
Now, with smarter search, deeper analysis and more detailed responses (v.2.8).
Now, with smarter search, deeper analysis and more detailed responses (v.2.8).

Tracking your interactions is key.
By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention
If you recently passed the CPA exam, Bar or other professional designation, congratulations. You put a lot of work and time into learning about the technical aspect of your profession.
Unfortunately, what they didn’t teach you is how to build a professional practice, gain clients and understand client needs. These talents are just as important as being a good auditor, tax consultant or management consultant.
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Six steps to take.
By Jody Padar
Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA
The accounting profession will never resemble an automotive production line, perhaps for no other reason than we don’t look good in steel-toed boots. We’ll never be widget producers and, from my viewpoint, that’s a good thing. However, our position among the professional class shouldn’t blind us to the benefits of standardizing many of our services.
Anyone who has been an accountant for any length of time has certainly seen enough to eliminate the need to reinvent the wheel every time they start a new engagement. An entire firm has even more institutional knowledge to draw from. You can develop reliable and repeatable recipes for different services and deliverables by capturing this institutional knowledge. This is standardization, and it makes your service offerings more efficient, cheaper, consistent and predictable – all good business practices. You’ll be able to predict with better accuracy the time frames required for new projects, and you’ll be able to scope out exactly what will be required to bring the project to a successful conclusion. READ MORE →
Technology changes quickly, but critical thinking remains the most valuable skill accountants can develop.
Accounting ARC
With Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation
Artificial intelligence is changing accounting faster than almost anyone predicted. But according to William LeFew, Ph.D., the professionals who benefit most from AI are not necessarily the ones with the strongest technical skills—they are the ones who know how to think.
In this episode of Accounting ARC, Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC and founder and inspiration architect for the Center for Accounting Transformation, welcomes LeFew, chief technology officer at FirmPro, for a conversation that goes beyond software features and into the mindset required to succeed in an AI-enabled profession.
MORE Accounting ARC: The Feedback Mistake That Costs You Your Best People | Is Your Boss Really the Problem? | Most Accountants Are Missing This AI Shift | AI Can Fix Your Workflow—or Break It in Seconds | Efficiency Is the Wrong Goal for AI | Accounting’s Hidden Talent Risk: The Sandwich Generation | Built Fast. Sold Faster. Broken Later? The Truth About Accounting Tech | Recognize When You Need to Recharge Before You Burn Out | Valuing More Than the Balance Sheet
LeFew approaches accounting from an unusual perspective. Trained as an applied mathematician with experience at NASA and multiple technology startups, he intentionally looks for industries where technology can remove friction instead of creating it. Accounting, he says, stands out because of the people.

Led by Michelle Weinstein, founder of The Abundant Accountant
By CPA Trendlines
In partnership with CPA Trendlines, Canopy has scheduled a free webinar for Tuesday, July 28, aimed at helping accounting and tax professionals overcome their reluctance to raise client fees.
FREE CPE WEBINAR
“How to Overcome the Fear of Raising Your Prices & Get Paid Your Worth”
with Michelle Weinstein
Tuesday, July 28, 1 pm ET
The session, “How to Overcome the Fear of Raising Your Prices & Get Paid Your Worth,” will be led by Michelle Weinstein, founder of The Abundant Accountant. The webinar will focus on pricing strategies designed to help firms move beyond hourly billing, communicate value more effectively, and increase revenue without adding clients or hours worked.
Attendees will learn how to identify the beliefs that keep firms from charging appropriately, reframe services around client outcomes rather than hours worked, and evaluate the financial impact of strategic fee increases.
Weinstein, a sales strategist and business coach for accounting professionals, says clients of her consulting practice have collectively added more than $38 million in revenue by improving pricing and sales processes.
AI changes how pros gain experience, forcing teams to reinvent leadership development.
MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines Research
Artificial intelligence has dominated conversations throughout the accounting profession, but much of the discussion remains focused on efficiency. In this episode of MOVE Like This, Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk sits down with Peter McCarroll, founder of The AI Accountant and partner at Fuel Accountants, to explore a much bigger question: How will AI reshape careers, leadership, and the future of accounting firms?